research proposal about science technology and society

What is STS?

Science and Technology Studies (STS) is a relatively new academic field. Its roots lie in the interwar period and continue into the start of the Cold War, when historians and sociologists of science, and scientists themselves, became interested in the relationship between scientific knowledge, technological systems, and society. The best known product of this interest was Thomas Kuhn’s classic 1962 study,  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions . This influential work helped crystallize a new approach to historical and social studies of science, in which scientific facts were seen as products of scientists’ socially conditioned investigations rather than as objective representations of nature. Among the many ramifications of Kuhn’s work was a systematic effort by social scientists to probe how scientific discovery and its technological applications link up with other social developments, in law, politics, public policy, ethics, and culture.

STS, as practiced in academia today, merges two broad streams of scholarship. The first consists of research on the nature and practices of science and technology (S&T). Studies in this genre approach S&T as social institutions possessing distinctive structures, commitments, practices, and discourses that vary across cultures and change over time. This line of work addresses questions like the following: is there a scientific method; what makes scientific facts credible; how do new disciplines emerge; and how does science relate to religion? The second stream concerns itself more with the impacts and control of science and technology, with particular focus on the risks, benefits and opportunities that S&T may pose to peace, security, community, democracy, environmental sustainability, and human values. Driving this body of research are questions like the following: how should states set priorities for research funding; who should participate, and how, in technological decisionmaking; should life forms be patented; how should societies measure risks and set safety standards; and how should experts communicate the reasons for their judgments to the public?

The rise of STS as a teaching field reflects a dawning recognition that specialization in today’s research universities does not fully prepare future citizens to respond knowledgeably and reflectively to the most important challenges of the contemporary world. Increasingly, the dilemmas that confront people, whether in government, industry, politics or daily life, cut across the conventional lines of academic training and thought. STS seeks to overcome the divisions, particularly between the two cultures of humanities (interpretive inquiry) and natural sciences (rational analysis).

STS teaching seeks to promote cross-disciplinary integration, civic engagement, and critical thinking. Undergraduate STS courses are especially popular with engineering and pre-professional students, including premeds. They help to illuminate issues of professional responsibility and ethics. Such courses also build bridges between disciplines that do not ordinarily meet each other in the undergraduate curriculum, such as sociology and science, law and science, anthropology and technology, environmental science and political theory, or technology and philosophy. Graduate STS courses offer ways of integrating knowledge in areas that are impossible to grasp through any single discipline; examples include security studies, environmental studies, globalization, the human sciences, and biology and society. STS courses in these areas enable students to form more robust understandings of the nature of controversy, the causes of scientific and technological change, the relationship of culture and reason, and the limits of rational analytic methods in characterizing complex problems.

In sum, STS explores in rich and compelling ways what difference it makes to human societies that we, collectively, are producers and users of science and technology. STS research, teaching, and outreach offer citizens of modern, high-tech societies the resources with which to evaluate—analytically, esthetically, and ethically—the benefits and the risks, the perils and the promises, of notable advances in science and technology.

Additional Readings

• Mario Biagioli, ed.,  The Science Studies Reader  (Routledge, 1999).
• Wiebe Bijker, Thomas P. Hughes, and Trevor Pinch, eds.,  The Social Construction of Technological Systems  (MIT Press, 1987).
• David J. Hess,  Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction  (New York University Press, 1997).
• Sheila Jasanoff, Gerald Markle, James Petersen and Trevor Pinch, eds.,  Handbook of Science and Technology Studies  (Sage Publications, 1995).
• Bruno Latour,  Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory  (Oxford University Press, 2005).
• Sergio Sismondo,  An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies  (Blackwell, 2003).

Useful Links

• Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
• European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST)
• Science, Technology, and Society Center, UC Berkeley
• Department of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University
• Science and Technology Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Science, Technology, and Society Program, University of Michigan
• Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT
• Science and Technology Studies, University of British Columbia

Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

Science and Technology Studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that investigates the conceptual foundations, historical developments and social contexts of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), including medical science. The STS program supports proposals across a broad spectrum of research that uses historical, philosophical and social scientific methods to investigate STEM theory and practice. STS research may be empirical or conceptual; specifically, it may focus on the intellectual, material or social facets of STEM including interdisciplinary studies of ethics, equity, governance and policy issues.

• February 2, 2024  - Deadline for all grant types offered under this solicitation, except Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants, which will only be accepted for the August 3 deadline.
• August 5, 2024  - Deadline for all grant types offered under this solicitation.

Organization limit varies by the type of proposal:

• Standard Research Grants and Grants for Collaborative Research: U.S. Institutions of Higher Education and U.S. Non-profit, Non-academic Organizations.
• Scholars Awards: U.S. Institutions of Higher Education and U.S. Non-profit, Non-academic Organizations.
• Professional Development Grants: U.S. Institutions of Higher Education and U.S. Non-profit, Non-academic Organizations.
• Research Community Development Grants: U.S. Institutions of Higher Education and U.S. Non-profit, Non-academic Organizations.
• Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants: U.S. Institutions of Higher Education.
• Conference Support: No limitations.

PI eligibility limit varies by the type of proposal. See Section II. Program Description for detailed information about each type of proposal.

Estimated Number of Awards:  40

Anticipated Funding Amount:  $6,200,000

Approximately $6,200,000 will be made available in FY 2023 to support an estimated 40 awards. Estimated program budget and number of awards are subject to the availability of funds.

Introduction: How the Sociology of Science and Technology Addresses Science and Society Relations

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The sociology of science and technology is paying growing attention to how the scientific field connects with other spheres of society. Increasingly pushed to leave their “ivory tower”, to become accountable to taxpayers, to generate useful, marketable products, to take responsibility for negative impacts, to engage with the concerns of citizens and stakeholders and regain their trust, scientists are thus incentivised to establish ties with non-academic actors. This chapter provides a brief overview of how the sociology of science and technology has been addressing the issue of science and society relations. It then summarises the chapters included in this book.

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For a more in-depth analysis of the mutations in Science and Technology Studies, see Edge ( 1995 ), Martin et al. ( 2012 ) or Felt et al. ( 2016 ).

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Acknowledgements

The editors are grateful to the European Sociological Association for funding the SSTNET 2016 workshop and the language revision of the book, and to the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon for hosting the workshop. The author also wishes to thank Fabienne Crettaz Von Roten and Katarina Prpić for their useful comments to this Introduction. We are also grateful for the useful comments of reviewers.

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Delicado, A. (2021). Introduction: How the Sociology of Science and Technology Addresses Science and Society Relations. In: Delicado, A., Crettaz Von Roten, F., Prpić, K. (eds) Communicating Science and Technology in Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52885-0_1

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Science and Technology Studies (STS)

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Science and Technology Studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that investigates the conceptual foundations, historical developments and social contexts of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), including medical science. The STS program supports proposals across a broad spectrum of research that uses historical, philosophical and social scientific methods to investigate STEM theory and practice. STS research may be empirical or conceptual; specifically, it may focus on the intellectual, material or social facets of STEM including interdisciplinary studies of ethics, equity, governance and policy issues.

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• SOCIAL ISSUES
• Sports (Continued)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Early British People TOPIC: Two studies of the DNA of early humans have yielded new information on the population of Great Britain. The first to be announced stated that the DNA of the oldest human found in England, the Cheddar Man, had dark skin and blue eyes. The second showed that the Beaker Culture supplanted the people who built Stonehenge. Can skin color or eye colors really be determined from a DNA sequence? Who were the Beaker people, where did they come from, and why are they called that? Has it been determined how they supplanted the native inhabitants?

SEARCH TERMS: DNA AND Cheddar Man OR Beaker Culture

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Evidence of First Stars TOPIC: Scientists have detected a radio signal that they identified as evidence of the first stars that appeared in the universe about 180 million years after the big bang. Who are these scientists, where do these radio signals come from and how did they match them to the earliest stars? How does this discovery change the way scientists view dark matter? SEARCH TERMS: stars AND spectrometer AND Judd Bowman

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Fitness Apps and the Military TOPIC: Fitness apps that attach to soldiers have been proven to allow enemies to track troop movements and leave soldiers vulnerable. What was discovered about these apps that showed they could be used as tracking devices? How has the military responded to this and how have companies that make these apps responded? SEARCH TERMS: fitness apps AND (military OR Army)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: China and Cloning TOPIC: Chinese scientists have successfully cloned a macaque, producing two identical babies. They were not able to clone an adult however, unlike others did with the sheep Dolly. What techniques did they use? Will these techniques be successful in humans? Why did they choose primates and what do they ultimately hope to use the clones for? What are the ethical debates regarding the cloning of primates and humans? SEARCH TERMS: primates AND cloning

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: FCC and Net Neutrality TOPIC: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it plans to roll back some net neutrality regulations. What are these regulations and when and why were they imposed? Why is the FCC planning to roll the regulations back? What are the most compelling arguments for each side? SEARCH TERMS: FCC AND net neutrality

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Neolithic Women TOPIC: By studying arm bones from Neolithic women, scientists have determined that their daily tasks made them stronger than professional female athletes. How did they go about doing this? What daily tasks do they see as contributing to this muscle growth? What do present-day athletes have to say about this? SEARCH TERMS: women AND Neolithic AND arm*

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Solar Eclipse TOPIC: On August 21, there was a solar eclipse that cast its strongest shadow diagonally across the United States. What states did the eclipse pass through and what cities and towns were known to offer the best view? What is a solar eclipse and what are some examples of non-solar eclipses? Why is it dangerous to look directly at the eclipse even though the sun is blocked? What are the safest ways to view an eclipse? SEARCH TERMS: solar eclipse

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Origin of Life Explained TOPIC: German and Australian scientists have come up with a new theory of how life began on Earth. Around 700 million years ago, the Earth became a gigantic snowball, covered by a heavy layer of ice. The ice ground up the mountains beneath it, which meant that nutrients within the rock were released. Finally, a massive warming event melted the ice and the water absorbed the nutrients and carried them down rivers into the sea, where life begins. What do they present as proof for this theory? What nutrients do they think came from the ground up mountains? SEARCH TERMS: lie AND snowball Earth

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Mars Rover AI      TOPIC: A software update to the Curiosity Mars Rover has given it the artificial intelligence to select its own targets for exploration.  What process does the rover use to make decisions and what are some examples of criteria applied to specific areas of decision making? What is AEGIS software and how does it work? SEARCH TERMS: Mars Rover AND Curiosity AND (AI OR Artificial Intelligence)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Scientists Meet in Boston TOPIC: Scientists from around the U.S. attended a meeting by the American Association for the Advancement of the Sciences in Boston to discuss policy in the changing political climate. What were the chief concerns expressed by the scientists, and what strategies and policies were discussed? Who were some of the leading scientists at the meeting, what were some of the points of debate and what were some of the points of agreement? SEARCH TERMS: American Association for the Advancement of Sciences AND Boston

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Exoplanets Found TOPIC: Seven exoplanets have been found orbiting the dwarf star Trappist 1, named after the Chilean telescope that discovered it. Three of them are in the star’s habitable zone where life could exist. Trappist 1 is about 40 light years away. What technological advances could help determine whether there is life on those planets? How far is that light year distance expressed as miles? SEARCH TERMS: Trappist 1 AND exoplanets

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Smart Stores TOPIC: Retail stores are increasingly testing new technologies that move them toward automated systems that will provide help and aid to customers and charge them for the goods they buy without interaction with human employees. What kinds of robots and apps are being tested and how do they work? What are some concerns about retail moving in this direction? SEARCH TERMS: (Smart Stores OR smartstores) AND retail AND robots

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Human Cells Grown in Pig Embryo TOPIC: The growth of human cells in pig embryos is being tested in an effort to eventually be able to grow human organs in animals for transplant. What ethical concerns have been raised and how are they being addressed? What are some of the other benefits to medical research that can come from growing human cells in animals? SEARCH TERMS: human cells AND pig embryo*

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Baboon Vocalizations TOPIC: Guinea baboons make vowel sounds when they vocalize, according to a new study. Their tongue musculature is similar to humans and tongues play a role in creating vowels. How did the scientists conduct this study? Do their conclusions seem reasonable? SEARCH TERMS: baboons AND vowels

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Robotic Hands TOPIC: A small scale study involving robotic hands for paralyzed people shows that using the hands increases their quality of life. Participants were able to move their shoulders, but not their hands or fingers. How did trial participants control the robotic hands? What is next for this technology? SEARCH TERMS: robotic hands AND research

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Vera Rubin and Dark Matter TOPIC: Dr. Vera Rubin was a scientist whose work on investigating dark matter greatly advanced our understanding of physics and how the universe works. What is dark matter and how did Dr. Rubin’s work advance our understanding of it? What other advances did Rubin make to enhance our understanding of physics and astronomy? SEARCH TERMS: Vera Rubin AND (astronomy OR physics)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Hard Landing on Mars TOPIC : Soon after the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter released the Schiaparelli lander to begin a slow descent to the surface of Mars, the ESA lost contact with the lander. It is now believed to have crashed on Mars. What was it supposed to do once it got to the surface of the planet? What is the Trace Gas Orbiter going to do as it orbits Mars? What other ESA attempt to explore Mars ran into trouble? SEARCH TERMS : Trace Gas orbiter OR Schiaparelli lander

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Cyber Attacks on Both Coasts TOPIC : A massive hacker attack on Friday October 21st disrupted many services starting in the eastern US and then spreading to other parts of the US and Europe. What has been discovered about how these attacks were set up and deployed? What has been discovered about who is behind them? What kind of protection is necessary to insure safety from these attacks? SEARCH TERMS: hack* AND attack AND Mirai

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Water on Mars      TOPIC:   NASA has found strong evidence of water on Mars.  What was seen in photos that strongly suggests areas where water flows in certain seasons?  What are the implications that water can have for life on Mars and what kind of life given the conditions on Mars? SEARCH TERMS: Mars AND water

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Teenagers and Social Media       TOPIC:   A recent study has shown that teenagers spend way too much time on social media.  How much time did the study say they averaged on social media and why?  What have been the negative and positive impact of this on their lives? SEARCH TERMS: (teens OR teenagers) AND social media 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: A Big Anniversary TOPIC:  Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity has turned 100 years old. This was Einstein’s attempt to reconcile Newton’s simultaneity of gravity to the fact objects cannot exceed the speed the light per his special theory of relativity. What 1919 observations made scientists accept his general theory? What other concepts arose from his theory? SEARCH TERMS: Einstein AND (relativity OR Gravity)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: SpaceX       TOPIC:   SpaceX has successfully launched and landed a Falcon rocket on a mission that put 11 small satellites into orbit.  What was unique about the landing of the rocket and what are the implications of this for the future?  What are some recent incidents where the landing did not work? SEARCH TERMS : SpaceX  SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: CERN Leadership Change TOPIC:  Fabiola Gianotti has become the leader at CERN, who's Large Hadron Collider has been responsible for advances in physics. What in her career led to this appointment? How does she differ from the typical stereotypes of scientists? What role did she play in the discovery by CERN of the Higgs boson, the so-called God particle? SEARCH TERMS: Fabiola Gianotti AND CERN

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: AlphaGo TOPIC:  Google's software AlphaGo has defeated a human opponent in the ancient Chinese strategy game of go. This is seen as an advance in artificial intelligence. It has also played multiple games against other programs that play go and defeated them. How do you play go? How difficult is it to become a good player and how good was the player AlphaGo defeated? Why is this achievement an advance in AI? SEARCH TERMS: go AND AlphaGo

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: New Fossils Found TOPIC:  1,500 fossil elements from in a cave in South Africa have introduced a new member of human evolution. Scientists have named the fossils Homo Naledi. Naledi means star in Sesotho, the local language. How were the fossils discovered? What was notable about the team that was able to work with them in place? What about the fossils led to their inclusion in the Homo family rather than one of our earlier relatives? SEARCH TERMS: Homo Naledi

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: IBEX Space Data      TOPIC:  NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), launched in 2008, is proving to be the best tool so far for retrieving good accurate data on local interstellar space.  What is considered local interstellar space?  What are some key examples of space data attained by IBEX that has allowed scientists to improve their analysis and theories?  How does the technology on the IBEX work and how does it map and track local interstellar space?   SEARCH TERMS: (Interstellar Boundary Explorer OR IBEX) AND NASA

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Nobel Prize in Physics TOPIC :  Researchers from Japan and Canada who discovered that neutrinos change from one type to another and have mass were awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics. What are neutrinos, when were they discovered, and how numerous are they in the universe? Why does their having mass seem so important? Who were the researchers and what were their careers like? SEARCH TERMS: Nobel Prize AND physics

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Wendelstein 7X Fusion Reactor TOPIC:   The Wendelstein 7X fusion reactor in Germany has produced its first evidence of hydrogen plasma.  What is the Wendelstein 7X fusion stellarator, what are its capabilities and what is its purpose?  What scientific function did it perform last December and what is the significance of that to its recent discovery of hydrogen plasma?  What is the overall significance of both experiments to science? SEARCH TERMS: Wendelstein 7X fusion AND hydrogen plasma

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Gravitational Waves        TOPIC:   Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detectors (LIGO) have observed gravitational waves, thus confirming Einstein's theory of relativity.  What are gravitational waves and how do they confirm this theory?  How were they recently viewed and what do they tell us about the universe?  What potential discoveries do these hold for the future? SEARCH TERMS: gravitational waves AND Einstein 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Eye in the Sky TOPIC: Satellite infrared images that showed possible human habitations may have led archaeologists to a second Viking community in North America, on the southwestern side of Newfoundland. Sarah H. Parcak, who has used satellite imagery to track looting of sites in Egypt, led the team whose excavations discovered proof of iron working there. Where is this in relation to the Viking site discovered in 1960? Why is iron working seen as proof of Viking presence? SEARCH TERMS: Newfoundland AND Vikings

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Daylight Savings TOPIC: The benefits and downfalls of moving the clock ahead in the Spring and back in the Fall are being debated. What is the basis of daylight savings? What is it intended to do? What are the benefits? What are the downfalls? How does the turning ahead and behind of the clock affect our health? SEARCH TERMS: Daylight Saving

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: 3-D Printer And Motorcycle TOPIC :  An Airbus unit has made an electric motorcycle using a 3-D printer and is going to sell a limited edition version of it. It was made using particles of an aluminum alloy. How heavy is it? How fast can it go and what is its range? How does 3-D printing work? What else does the Airbus unit hope to make with 3-D printing and show off this year? SEARCH TERMS: Airbus AND 3-D printing AND motorcycle

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Old Government Systems   TOPIC:  A report from the Government Accountability Office has revealed that some of the functions of U.S. nuclear forces use old floppy discs designed in the 1970s and other outdated legacy systems.  What difficulties can some government departments and companies have upgrading technologies?  What are the risks of these older systems to our nuclear program?  What are some other examples of outdated technologies used by the federal government today and what risks do they present? SEARCH TERMS : nuclear AND floppy disk

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Solar Impulse 2 TOPIC : Solar Impulse 2, the Swiss-made solar-powered aircraft has successfully flown from Hawaii to California making a leg of its journal around the globe. What was the largest leg of its journey and how did it fare? How does the solar power work in this particular airplane? What have been some of the challenges the Solar Impulse 2 has faced in its many pieces of flight to circle the globe? SEARCH TERMS: Solar Impulse 2

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Aging TOPIC: A Netherlands study reports that people who look old for their age seem to have a variation in gene MC1R. The MC1R gene is also responsible for red hair and pale skin. How was this study done? What are some arguments against the way the research was done? SEARCH TERMS: aging AND MC1R gene

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Juno Spacecraft and Jupiter TOPIC: NASA’s Juno Spacecraft will soon arrive at its destination, Jupiter. What are its scientific objectives and what is its process for investigating Jupiter? How long has it taken Juno to reach Jupiter and how has the trip gone? SEARCH TERMS : Juno Spacecraft AND Jupiter

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Helium Discovery TOPIC : Researchers from Oxford and Dunham universities have discovered a new helium gas field, thought to hold 56 billion cubic feet, and located in the Rift Valley in Tanzania. Ancient volcanic activity heated crustal rocks, releasing the helium. This is the first helium field to be discovered by searching, as opposed to by accident. What uses does helium have in high tech industries and medical technology? Where has most of the helium come from? Given the uses helium has, is it wise to use it filling balloons? SEARCH TERMS: Tanzania AND helium

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Bomb Robots TOPIC: Recently the Dallas police department used an unusual tool, often called a bomb robot, which carried and detonated by remote control a bomb that killed an armed and dangerous sniper. What are some ways these bomb robots are used and how do they work? How common are they and what are some concerns about using them? SEARCH TERMS: bomb robots

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: A New Particle? TOPIC : There is a chance that the Large Hadron Collider, located at the Swiss-French border, has found a particle that is six times heavier than the Higgs-Boson particle. They had seen pairs of photons with a combined mass of 750 Gigaelctronvolts (GeV). Does this presumed new particle fit into the Standard Model of particle physics? If not, what are the implications of its existence? SEARCH TERMS: Large Hadron Collider AND 750 GeV

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Nearby Planet Discovered TOPIC : Scientists have detected an Earth-like planet they’ve named Proxima b circling the star nearest to us, Proxima Centauri. Moreover, it is in the habitable zone, which means there is a chance that water exists on its surface. How did they determine that the planet exists, given that it is not observable using current technology? How far away from us is Proxima Centauri in light years and in miles? What is the Goldilocks zone? SEARCH TERMS: Proxima Centauri AND Proxima b

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Geology in our National Parks TOPIC: While the US National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary, the role and mission of the park service is not widely known when it comes to the opportunities to study the science within our magnificent national parks. How do they reveal geological history? How do they allow one to study astronomy? Which parks can one visit to better understand the value of preserving marine species? Why is the scientific study of our parks necessary in preserving them for future generations to enjoy? What can they reveal about ecological responses to widespread environmental problems? SEARCH TERMS: National Park* AND (science OR research)

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Science, Technology and Society Research Priority Group

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STS Priority Group Grants 

The Science, Technology and Society Priority Group award grants to projects which reflect its core themes, are innovative and imaginative. Successful proposals seek to influence in the longer term, to challenge policy or practice, or try to understand perceptions, beliefs or behaviour. 

If you are interested applying for a grant, please contact Andrew Gibson  for forms.

NB. In 2013/14, the Priority Group will also be providing travel bursaries to postgraduate students attending STS-relevant conferences. For more information on this, contact  Andrew Gibson .

Below are examples of current or past projects which have received STS funding.

Recent grants

- Title : Public opinion on shale gas extraction in the UK; Principal Investigator : Professor Sarah O'Hara (Geography). Read case study

-  Title : Sustainability Research Network launch event; Principal Investigator : Professor Georgina Endfield (Geography). Read summary  

- Title : An assessment of the long term welfare impact of conservation-led displacement in Nepal; Principal Investigator : Professor Saumik Paul (Economics, Malaysia campus). Read summary

- Title : New Technologies in International Security Law workshop; Principal Investigator : Professor Nigel White (Law). Read summary

Title : Measuring landmark saliency in the field: An insight into human spatial cognition; Principal Investigator: Dr Alastair D. Smith (Psychology). Read summary

- Title : Uses and abuses of science: drug policy and its reforms in comparative perspective; Principal Investigator : Dr Gernot Klantschnig (International Studies, Ningbo). Read summary

- Title : Life Cycle Assessments and bioenergy modelling: identifying and overcoming methodological uncertainties; Principal Investigator : Dr Alison Mohr (Sociology and Social Policy).  Read summary  

- Title : The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+) project in Indonesia: political, environmental and socio-economic issues; Principal Investigator : Dr Sarah Jewitt (Geography). Read summary

- Title : Science and Society documentary series at the Broadway Cinema, with the University’s Science Technology Culture Research Group; Principal Investigator : Professor Brigitte Nerlich (Sociology and Social Policy). Read summary

- Title : Urban runoff as an unrealised global water resource for society ; Principal Investigator : Dr Simon Gosling (Geography).  Read summary  

- Title : Developing UoN’s relationship with The Papplewick Pumping Station Trust: promoting water issues, building research capacity; Principal Investigator : Professor Colin Thorne (Geography). Read summary

Past grants

- Title : Sci-fi and nuclear power; Principal Investigator : Professor Brigitte Nerlich (Sociology and Social Policy).  Read summary  

- Title : Living ecological values; Principal Investigator : Dr Ros Hague (Politics and International Relations).  Read summary

- Title : Jatropha policy and sustainable energy in India; Principal Investigator : Dr Sujatha Raman (Sociology and Social Policy). Read summary

- Title : Challenging Care: A play based on ethnographic studies of dementia wards; Principal Investigator:  Professor Justine Schneider (Sociology and Social Policy). Read summary

- Title : Protective hand hygiene behaviour; Principal Investigator : Dr Jacqueline Randle (Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy). Read summary

- Title : Human and elephant conflict in agricultural landscapes; Principal Investigator : Dr Vanitha Ponnusamy (Business School, Malaysia campus). Read summary  

- Title : Natural hazards and the social sciences; Principal Investigator : Professor Paul Martin (Sociology and Social Policy). Read summary

- Title : Public engagement: where the social sciences meet STEM; Principal Investigator : Professor Paul Martin (Sociology and Social Policy). Read summary

Grant summaries  

Title :  Sustainability Research Network launch event; Principal Investigator: Professor Georgina Endfield (Geography).

Principal Investigator :  Professor Georgina Endfield

Summary (written by team) :

As an interdisciplinary team of five PhD students, we recognised the need for early career researchers to move outside their departments to share ideas and practice. Our aim was to facilitate knowledge sharing across disciplines and expose researchers to new perspectives they might not be aware of, by providing a forum for these exchanges to take place.

With that aim in mind, we used the STS PG funds obtained to host a workshop to launch and establish a network for PhD students, post-doctoral staff, and other early career researchers working on – or with an interest in – sustainability. At the event on May 23 rd 2013, titled “Envisioning Sustainable Futures: An Event for Early Career Researchers,” we launched the Sustainability Research Network (SRN) to approximately 40 researchers at Highfield House. The final programme included:

• “Sustainability Teaching and Research at the University of Nottingham” by Dr Sarah Speigh  
• Panel session on careers in sustainability chaired by Dr Sally Hibbert featuring Dr Chris Blencowe, Sustainability Consultant at Hilson Moran; Graham Gardiner, Social Entrepreneur and Co-director of Aspiren; and Professor Brigitte Nerlich, Professor of Science, Language and Society
• Posters on display from ‘Perspectives on Sustainability’ NOOC module, open to votes from participants
• Stalls from Centre for Careers and Employability Service and Sustainable Nottingham
• Mixed discipline roundtables discussing key issues in sustainability and connections across fields
• Sustainability Futures Scenario game

Title : An assessment of the long term welfare impact of conservation-led displacement in Nepal

Principal Investigator : Professor Saumik Paul (Economics, Malaysia campus)

Summary  (written by team):

The goal of this study is to understand the long term impact of conservation led displacement on food security and informal safety nets among the villagers affected by the extension of the Shukalpantha Wildlife reserve, in the Kanchanpur district of Nepal. For this purpose, we collected quantitative and qualitative data for 830 households in the Kanchanpur district. Given the caste centric social life prevalent in Nepal, we categorise households into the four main caste groupings – BCN (Brahman, Chettri, Newar), Rana, Dangaur/Choudary, and Dalit to identify inter-caste differences in the effect of the displacement and subsequent coping strategies. Our preliminary findings indicate that the long term effect of displacement to be heterogeneous. The divergence in the effects is instrumented by factors such as caste, land and asset holdings and access to facilities. However, when additional controls and more robust estimation techniques are employed, the effects of displacement seem to fade off and do not seem to significantly alter the social welfare of households.

  Title : New Technologies in International Security Law workshop

Principal Investigator : Professor Nigel White (Law)

Summary (written by team)

The funds were of a pump-priming nature to enable a new research centre in the Law School (Nottingham International Law and Security Centre - NILSC) to organise an expert workshop on ‘New Technologies in International Security Law’ in July 2013. This was held successfully with experts from the RAF, the University of Sheffield, the Australian National University and University of Nottingham giving papers (on international law and new technologies, cyber threats, nanotechnology, automated weapons and biotechnology) to an invited audience of experts from Nottingham (Law and Politics), other Universities and the Ministry of Defence

The area of New Technologies and International Security Law covered cyber threats, automated weapons systems, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and others. Its aim was to undertake a preliminary investigation into the normative gaps in international legal regulation. The workshop was of a scoping nature and is being followed up by a more specific project proposal on peacekeeping and new technologies, which will be the subject of a major funding bid. 

  Title: Measuring landmark saliency in the field: An insight into human spatial cognition

Principal Investigator: Dr Alastair D. Smith (Psychology)

Co-Investigator: Dr Gary Priestnall (Geography)

Background:

Navigational technology has become a ubiquitous part of our lives over the last 10 years and is set to become a core component of everyday wayfinding for huge cross-sections of society. Whilst most people are familiar with location based services in the form of an in-car SatNav, such systems are prioritised for use on the road and do not adequately represent the user’s interaction with the world as a pedestrian. So, although there are increasing calls for navigational aids for the pedestrian (e.g. automated city-guides), there has not been sufficient research to ensure that such a system is optimised for the unique demands of off-road exploration, especially when navigational directions might be related to visual landmarks rather than simply following a road or turning at a junction – the rest of the world is simply more complex .

The present project aims to develop a new and innovative approach to in-field testing, representing an exciting synthesis of geographical and psychological approaches. It will test how location-based approaches to pedestrian navigation can be optimised to the user’s everyday experience of the world around them. This will ensure that navigational solutions work within the necessary remit of being intuitive, responsive, and genuinely useful technologies for the widest possible range of users. 

A tour around University Park campus (of the style used on Open Days) is the focus, using a simple locative media application on a smartphone to act as the user's guide. Points along that route act as test locations for certain orientation or navigation tasks, using instructional media (delivered on the mobile device) to prompt the user to acknowledge whether they identify something in the real world scene to be of geographic relevance. An innovative aspect of this design will be the use of a second device to log user responses, asking them to ‘zap’ a feature of interest using the camera view augmented with a target crosshair. The images from the campus experiments will then be passed through salience analysis software: models that have been designed to extract the most visually salient features of a scene and predict which of those is most likely to attract attention. Together, these data will provide a powerful and groundbreaking approach to understanding everyday wayfinding behaviour in a dynamic and realistic context.

Aims and objectives:

As well as paving the way for a competitive bid for research council funding, the intended outcomes will include a greater understanding of the factors that influence user orientation in the field and an assessment of the merits of this new methodological approach. This can increase public awareness and understanding of science in a genuinely interactive and practical manner. Beyond navigation, the research findings could impact across a range of Location-Based Services (LBS), including the way media (including maps) are delivered via a mobile device in ways that are genuinely useful and geographically relevant in the field.

Title : Uses and abuses of science: drug policy and its reforms in comparative perspective

Principal Investigator : Dr Gernot Klantschnig (International Studies, Ningbo)

Co-Investigator : Professor Prof Sue Pryce (Politics and International Relations), Jane McGregor (Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy)  Jane McGregor (Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy)

Background : A grant has been awarded to help facilitate a one-day, interdisciplinary, international workshop titled ‘Uses and abuses of science: drug policy and its reforms in comparative perspective’ in Nottingham in spring 2013.

Participants at the workshop will present their research and debate how scientific debates, particularly in the medical field, are mobilised, used (or not used) in recent attempts to reform policies on psychoactive substances. For comparative purposes the substances discussed will range from the heavily controlled, such as opiates, cannabis and some drugs used in healthcare settings, to the relatively freely accessible, such as alcohol and tobacco. The papers will also contrast different geographical regions and in that way illustrate the diverse ways how debates about drugs have been adapted and developed locally and globally.

Special attention will be given to recent policy discussions about so-called harm reduction approaches, and their differing effects across countries. For instance, the UK – a country with one of the longest histories of promoting this approach to drug policy and healthcare more broadly - seems to move away from such policies in recent years, whereas countries as diverse as China, the US and Tanzania appear to be interested in learning from the UK experience.

In addition to focusing on the intersections between science and policy, the workshop is also interdisciplinary. It brings together Nottingham’s health and medical scientists with colleagues from the social sciences and the humanities, who have studied the same substances from different perspectives and often in isolation from each other.

Aims and objectives :

The immediate aims and objectives of the workshop are to provide a networking and sandpit event for the sharing of ideas about drug policy from different disciplinary, methodological and geographical perspectives. The workshop pools existing expertise in Nottingham, especially from colleagues of the renowned health and medical field who are interested in broader debates about the impact of science, as well as social scientists working on health. Participants come from diverse academic disciplines, such as Community Health Sciences, Nursing, the Schools of Politics, Education, Business, History, Social Policy, Law, Chinese Studies, the Institute of Mental Health in Nottingham and its affiliate body in Shanghai (Shanghai Mental Health Centre, SMHC) as well as the Nottingham-based Centre for Tobacco Control Studies.

Longer-term aims : After this initial meeting and debate among colleagues, the workshop aims to be the basis for future collaboration that will help to sustain academic links on drug and healthcare policy through the STS Priority Group. Objectives for the near future are to bring together like-minded colleagues working across the disciplines who will secure major grant applications in the UK, US and in China.

The strengthening of links with practitioners is another core concern for many of the colleagues interested in this workshop. For instance, members of the Shanghai-based SMHC (a centre at the forefront of Chinese mental health and drug policy) have already inquired about the proceedings of the planned workshop and the possibility to engage more closely with academic counterparts in the UK. This is a field to be informally explored at the workshop and a definite focus for future work in this area.

Principal Investigator : Dr Alison Mohr (Sociology and Social Policy)

Co-Investigators : Dr Sujatha Raman (Sociology and Social Policy), Dr Marcelle McManus (Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath), Dr Caroline Taylor (Energy Biosciences Institute, University of CA­-Berkeley)

Background: Modelling the sustainability impacts of bioenergy technologies has become an increasingly popular tool for improving innovation processes and informing policy. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a modelling technique to assess the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product’s life, from raw material extraction through processing, manufacture, distribution, implementation and disposal or recycling. LCA maps the range of environmental concerns by compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases, and evaluating the potential impacts associated with these. LCA is one component of bioenergy modelling that, depending on the model used, generally aims to determine the most cost effective uses of biomass (often in the context of wider energy choices) subject to constraints including biomass availability, energy demand, technological and infrastructure capabilities, GHG emissions targets and policy targets.

Recent interviews conducted as part of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre’s (BSBEC) LACE (Lignocellulosic Conversion to Ethanol) programme to explore the social and ethical dimensions of bioenergy reveal the depth to which the LCA, bioenergy modelling and policy communities are concerned about the coherence of the methodologies used in LCA and bioenergy modelling, including issues of data reliability and differences in system boundaries; incorporation of cross-national border transfer of sustainability impacts into LCA; and possible misuse of LCA by policy-makers not recognizing the difference between attributional (measuring past impacts) and consequential (predicting future impacts and uncertainties therein) LCA.

Aims : To identify the major methodological uncertainties embodied in LCA and bioenergy modelling from a scientific/engineering, sociological and policy perspective

Objectives :

• Understand the particular challenges faced by practitioners in the development of LCA and bioenergy modelling
• Understand the particular challenges faced by UK policy-makers in the uptake and utilisation of LCA and bioenergy modelling
• Identify relevant pathways to overcome major uncertainties and challenges
• Scope out and identify purpose and participants for further seminar series and potential research bids

Title : The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+) project in Indonesia: political, environmental and socio-economic issues

Principal Investigator : Sarah Jewitt (Geography)

Co-Investigators : Professor Michele Clarke (Geography), Professor Sacha Mooney (Biosciences), Professor Helen West (Biosciences)

Background: In an effort to address climate change and capture potential carbon revenues, Indonesia has made a non-binding commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 26-41% by 2020 (Bappenas et al, 2010). The focus is on reducing deforestation-related emissions through better peatland management and incentives to local governments to maintain and rehabilitate land and forest cover. Central Kalimantan has been selected for the implementation of a pilot ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus’ (REDD+) project and investors are being encouraged to develop peat swamp forest and ecosystem restoration-related projects in the province to enhance carbon stocks.

Although carbon credit mechanisms have potential to conserve and restore tropical peat, combining reduced GHG emissions with pro-poor benefits presents many challenges. The UNFCCC (2009: 14) highlights the importance of alternative livelihood provision and participatory forest management as various REDD demonstration activities have shown that ‘training these communities enables them to manage their forest resources on a more sustainable basis’. REDD also requires sound scientific understandings of how the ecosystems under consideration are affected by different forms of environmental change as well as detailed baseline data on carbon emissions from different land use scenarios against which reduced emissions can be measured.

The key aim of this proposal is to fund travel and subsistence to enable two UoN researchers to visit Central Kalimantan, expand existing interdisciplinary research linkages with the University of Palangka Raya (UNPAR) and undertake scoping work on REDD+ initiatives in the region.

The objectives of the project are to:

• develop research capacity in the political, environmental, socio-economic, livelihood, cultural and governance-related issues surrounding the REDD+ pilot project in Central Kalimantan
• prepare and submit a significant multidisciplinary Research Project Grant application to the Leverhulme Trust to explore how successful small-scale participatory community-based fire fighting and hydrological restoration initiatives set up by the Center for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatland (CIMTROP) can be expanded and replicated in other areas under REDD+ or alternative carbon credit schemes in ways that simultaneously improve local livelihoods and promote reduced GHG emissions
• utilise staff exchanges and visits to share class, gender and ethnically sensitive understandings of local livelihood and development priorities amongst peatland communities in Central Kalimantan and explore opportunities to develop joint programmes and co-supervision at doctoral or masters level.
• develop linkages with different stakeholders and community groups to investigate the potential for different REDD+ forest conservation and management initiatives to combine effective sustainable forest management, conservation, carbon sequestration and meet, in a socio-culturally acceptable manner, the heterogeneous livelihood needs of different socio-economic, ethnic and gender groups.

Title : Science and Society documentary series at the Broadway Cinema, with the University’s Science Technology Culture Research Group

Principle Investigator : Professor Brigitte Nerlich (Sociology and Social Policy)

Co-Investigator : Professor Christopher Johnson (Cultures, Languages and Area Studies)

The Science, Technology and Society Priority Group has two main goals:

• to coordinate and enhance research and teaching in the field of Science and Technology Studies across the University of Nottingham
• to stimulate public debate on the role of science and technology in contemporary societies

In order to engage more closely with the second task, a selection of science documentaries will be shown at Nottingham’s Broadway Cinema in order to stimulate debate about science and society. These documentaries will be sourced from a variety of disciplines, such as history, astronomy/cosmology, physics, neuroscience, biology and geology, and accompanied by invited talks by members of the Science Technology Culture Research Group (such as Chris Johnson, John Marks, Arthur Piper, etc.), as well as one ‘celebrity’ scientist/presenter (such as Kevin Warwick).

Aims and objectives:   

  The main aims we want to achieve through these activities are:

• to establish closer strategic links between the Science, Technology and Culture Group (headed by Professor Christopher Johnson, School of Culture, Language and Area Studies) and the Science, Technology and Society Priority Group (Academic Champion, Professor Reiner Grundmann, School of Sociology and Social Policy)
• to draw renewed attention to and generate cross-disciplinary support for the STS Priority Group
• to engage the general public in issues around science, technology and culture

To realise these longer-term aims, this strategic project is employing a research assistant, Alan Valdez, to engage in research into the value of science documentaries for science communication and, more importantly, to lay the practical foundations for screening the documentaries in the autumn and spring of 2012-2013.    

Title : Urban runoff as an unrealised global water resource for society  

Co-Investigators : Chris Walsh (The University of Melbourne), Tim Fletcher (The University of Melbourne)

Water that flows over the surface of the earth following rainfall events is called runoff. Urban areas typically present a much higher proportion of impervious surfaces than vegetated land. As a result of these impervious surfaces, a proportion of urban runoff that would have otherwise infiltrated the ground surface and flowed into urban waterways instead flows down stormwater drainage networks. Furthermore, another proportion that would have otherwise been taken up by plants and released to the atmosphere, is also essentially ‘lost’ down stormwater drain networks. This has two important implications:

• Urban waterways and their habitats are degraded as a result of increased inputs that have become polluted with sediments and chemicals along the drainage network.
• A proportion of urban runoff that could potentially be used as drinking water by urban society is lost because it is removed and polluted by stormwater drains.

A large proportion of urban runoff could be retained by, for instance, the installation of household rainfall harvesting tanks. The potential retention of urban runoff within urban catchments is an unrealised global water resource but this has not been adequately recognized in the environmental flow literature, and its hydrologic effects are poorly understood by water resource managers and policy makers.

To date, the team of researchers have:

• Produced an advanced version of the MacPDM.09 global hydrological numerical simulation model (Gosling and Arnell, 2011), providing information on daily global rainfall and runoff for the period 1963-2001.
• Post-processed the data from the Mac-PDM.09 simulation so it is now compatible with the urban runoff models that are used at University of Melbourne. 
• Developed a numerical model that applies the MacPDM.09 rainfall and runoff simulations to global datasets of urban impervious surfaces.

Future objectives include:

• Analysing simulations from the urban impervious runoff model and Mac-PDM.09 to estimate the proportion of urban runoff that could provide humans with at least their minimum domestic water needs at the global scale.
• Drafting the results and methods into a journal paper.

Title : Developing UoN’s relationship with The Papplewick Pumping Station Trust: promoting water issues, building research capacity

Principal Investigator : Professor Colin Thorne (Geography)

Co-Investigators : Dr Mary Biddulph (Education), Dr Alison Mohr (Sociology and Social Policy), Professor Steve Daniels (Geography), Dr Nick Mount (Geography)

The huge success of the 2010 Papplewick Lecture demonstrated how effective partnership between the UoN and the Trust can be and hints at unfulfilled potential for success in other activities related to promoting public understanding of water issues. Similarly, the award to UoN of an ESRC CASE studentship, with the Trust and Severn-Trent water as co-sponsors, is further evidence that Research Councils recognise the benefits of research linking the public, private and third sectors. An STS grant awarded in 2011 has allowed Thorne, Biddulph and Mohr to move forward plans for research collaboration between UoN and the Papplewick and Water Education Trusts with the intention of applying for external funding. Following a series of research workshops held in spring 2012, six topics appeared which demonstrated enthusiastic support of researchers from more than one school and had potential for multi-disciplinary research on water across various Nottingham campuses:

• Securing water, crop and flood-alleviation futures (Debbie Sparkes, Paul Wilson, Sacha Mooney)
• Water and farmers' decision making (Nick Mount, Susanne Seymour, Alison Mohr, Paul Wilson, Colin Thorne)
• Conserving water and energy (Saffa Riffat, Rachel Gomes, Sujatha Raman, Alison Mohr)
• Water heritage (Steve Daniels, Georgina Endfield, Colin Thorne, Suzanne McGowan)
• Water education, literacy and citizenship (Mary Biddulph, Sujatha Raman, David Lambert, Graham Butt, Colin Thorne)
• Understanding 'water footprints' (Rachel Gomes, Mary Biddulph, David Lambert, Paul Nathanail, Bob Abrahart)

Aims: The aim is to carry forward multi-disciplinary research ideas identified under the previous STS grant to produce proposals for new research on water-related topics identified through the University’s partnership with The Papplewick Pumping Station Trust.

Objectives:

• Continuing the partnership between The Papplewick Pumping Station Trust and the Schools of Geography, Agriculture and Sociology and Social Policy that has been built under STS funding.
• Further developing plans to make better use of the water records held by the University.
• Taking immediate advantage of the way the previous funding has raised the profile of the UoN-Papplewick partnership with stakeholders in key water sectors including: water supply and use in agriculture, domestic water use, conservation and disposal, water heritage and transitional education.
• Submission of 3 multi-disciplinary research proposals.

Title : Sci-fi and nuclear power

Principal Investigator : Professor Brigitte Nerlich (Sociology and Social Policy)

Summary : Using a mixed methods approach, the research probed the clash between policy aspirations and public perceptions (both factual and fictional) of nuclear power in the East and West. The work gained insight into the social and cultural shaping of public attitudes to issues related to climate change and energy.

Title : Living ecological values

Principle Investigator : Dr Ros Hague (Politics and International Relations)

Summary : The project involved a case study of the Findhorn Foundation, exploring how deep ecological values can be ‘lived’. The Findhorn Foundation comprises a large spiritual and environmentalist community, an eco-village and a centre for holistic education. It has approximately 1,000 members and is home to dozens of ‘ethical’ and ‘environmentally sustainable’ businesses.

Title : Jatropha policy and sustainable energy in India

Principlal Investigator : Dr Sujatha Raman (Sociology and Social Policy)

Summary : Dr Raman produced an overview (with some historical background) of how the twin challenges of sustainability (including climate change) and development (including energy poverty) are being conceptualised in discussions and key policies around energy in India. It helped colleagues tailor later research on sustainable energy technologies.

Title : Challenging Care: A play based on ethnographic studies of dementia wards

Principal Investigator : Professor Justine Schneider (Sociology and Social Policy)

Summary : The project facilitated and documented the translation of research undertaken in the School of Sociology and Social Policy into a play. A five-day theatre workshop was filmed and edited into a 15-20 minute DVD, with twofold purpose: the first being educational, the second to promote the play to potential producers. The play itself was performed by Meeting Ground (a local theatre company), with Stephen Lowe acting as ‘dramaturg’ and was produced by Tanya Myers.

Title : Protective hand hygiene behaviour

Principal Investigator : Dr Jacqueline Randle (Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy)

Summary : This pilot study explored attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, including protective behaviour in relation to hand hygiene. Previous evidence suggests sub-optimal hand hygiene compliance both in healthcare workers and the general public, and recent results suggest that hand hygiene behaviour is primarily self-protective rather than patient safety centred. The researchers suggest that interventions should be targeted for best effect, in order to provide services that are value for money whilst improving the quality of healthcare provision.

Title : Human and elephant conflict in agricultural landscapes

Principal Investigator : Dr Vanitha Ponnusamy (Business School, Malaysia campus)

Summary : This short study, which feeds into longer term research, explored the behaviour of elephants in human-dominated landscapes, as well as the social and physical factors that shape local attitudes towards Malaysian elephants. By exploring both the damage caused by competition for resources (so-called ‘human-elephant conflict’), as well as the importance of elephants in Malaysian conservation efforts, the project sought to gauge the preferred tools or agents for managing human-elephant conflict.

Title : Natural hazards and the social sciences

Principal Investigator : Professor Paul Martin (Sociology and Social Policy)

Summary : A scoping study on natural hazards, government policy and cross-disciplinary research in UK higher education institutions. 

Title : Public engagement: where the social sciences meet STEM

Summary : A scoping study on public engagement for science, technology and society issues.

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Panagiotis Kavouras

June 3rd, 2024, building trust in science is a social and technological project.

0 comments | 7 shares

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Research integrity and trust in science have made global news this year. Reflecting on the scientific norm of organised scepticism, Panagiotis Kavouras   outlines how  building trust in science requires commitments to social and technical means of ensuring transparency and reproducibility across scientific processes.

“ Οὐδέν κρυπτόν ὑπό τόν ἥλιον ”; this famous ancient Greek saying translates into English as “ Nothing rests hidden under the sun ”, implies that nothing can remain hidden forever. This process  of uncovering is a key function of science; organised scepticism . At its core, it means that no scientific assertion should go untested or unchallenged by a scientist’s peers and colleagues.

However, there is also a negative connotation when we speak about uncovering in science. This is related to the exposure of research misconduct or questionable research practices. Last year saw a record high of more than 10,000 retracted scientific papers . These papers had successfully undergone the process of peer review — meant to initiate the principle of organised scepticism —  and were used by the scientific community. Papers are retracted when they are found to be unreliable, be that from an innocent mistake by the researcher, sloppy science, application of questionable research practices , or more sinister types of research misconduct .

Last year saw a record high of more than 10,000 retracted scientific papers. These papers had successfully undergone the process of peer review

Should we conclude from this that science, in general, is unreliable? Definitely not. Does it mean that societies should blindly trust science? Better not to. These seemingly contradictory responses provide some food for thought on the conditions necessary for science to be trusted by scientists and societies.

How should we think about trust in science?

At this point we can ask whether trust is even the correct word. Trust is defined as the firm belief in the reliability or truth of someone or something. And perhaps herein lies a fundamental problem, since belief, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is the acceptance that something exists or is true, even without proof . This lack of proof runs counter to the foundational principle of organised scepticism, upon which scientific progress should be based.

Having clarified this not-so-small terminological issue we come to the core question: What conditions should be fulfilled for science to effectively apply the principle of organised scepticism, counteract research misconduct and questionable research practices, and remain trustworthy? The answer is that a scientific result must be communicated together with the means of its verification (or of its negation). In a sense, scientists and societies should not focus only on the conclusions of scientific research, but on the whole process with which those conclusions were reached, that is, to all stages of the research cycle . This allows for the scientific findings to be tested or reproduced by other scientists; reproducibility is organised scepticism in action .

scientists and societies should not focus only on the conclusions of scientific research, but on the whole process with which those conclusions were reached, that is, to all stages of the research cycle.

If a scientific finding can be successfully reproduced, then it is on the right track to be validated as correct. Yet, scientists speak of a reproducibility crisis , where a portion of scientific findings cannot be successfully reproduced. How then can we achieve the necessary level of reproducibility across different scientific disciplines?

Contextualising transparency

Estimates of how much reproducibility can be achieved differ significantly across scientific fields, as different criteria are used to quantify it. It is necessary to work together as a scientific community to ensure published scientific results are reproducible. In other words, to ensure that results are published with the level of transparency to allow someone else to complete the same experiment. In general, researchers need to publish how the study was conducted (i.e. a detailed study protocol), how they analysed the retrieved data (data analysis plan) and, of course, how they openly conveyed the retrieved data itself. This is more easily said than done, since the specific features of how and what exactly to report for reproducibility to be achieved, as well as what exactly is successful reproducibility is very much field-dependent. Whatever the challenges, reproducibility is a key requirement to building trust across all fields.

How can we make transparency a reality?

Open Science is an approach to the scientific process that focuses on uncovering and publishing the processes underpinning scientific research. It is now possible to publish one’s data, software and code or any other tools used to conduct an experiment alongside the published results . In fact, increasingly funders and some publishers are mandating this.

Other Open Science initiatives tackle the issues around high levels of retraction and low levels of reproducibility more directly. For instance, the registere d report , where the research questions, the study protocol, and the data analysis plan of a study are published before the actual work of the study takes place. In these cases, if a scientific journal accepts the registered report, it is obliged to publish the findings whether they are groundbreaking or not. This strategy, essentially, measures the value of a study not by its outcome, but solely by the quality of the methodology. Another example is the system of open peer review , where the process for assessing the quality of a study is made public and publishable.

Open Science practices, by exposing the whole research cycle to the eyes of experts and non-experts, could help reduce the risk of questionable research practices and research misconduct.

Creating a professional culture conducive to transparency

At the root of many questionable research practices and research misconduct is a research culture that prioritises publication. Researchers are promoted based on how many publications they produce, the impact of the journals in which they publish, and the number of citations their papers receive. This focus on quantitative criteria for the assessment of researchers and universities exerts enormous pressure. This need for speed and volume of research results pushes researchers to prioritise quantity over quality. Tackling this situation needs a holistic approach, solutions need to permeate research policy, research funding, the conduct of research, research publication and communication, and of course higher education.

At the root of many questionable research practices and research misconduct is a research culture that prioritises publication.

The growth of the field of research integrity is arguably a response to this ‘publish or perish’ culture. Research integrity practitioners all over the world are advocating for the professional acknowledgement and reward of responsible research practices , to ensure research outcomes are trustworthy. They are also trying to create communities, to spread the measures for more trustworthy science. One of the most prominent efforts is the series of the World Conferences on Research Integrity (WCRI) that takes place every two years. These conferences are important events in the research landscape as they bring together scientists and research professionals across all disciplines and regions of the world to discuss these challenges and work to address them.

Reproducibility, Open Science, and research integrity all play important roles in facilitating the processes of ‘uncovering’ in science. Organised scepticism and identification of research misconduct and questionable practices are essential elements in the struggle to safeguard the trustworthiness of science. In a sense, they are the persistent echo of the ancient Greek saying, put paraphrased into relevant context: “ No scientific claim should rest hidden under the critical scrutiny of the scientific community .”

Note: This year sees the 8th WCRI taking place in Athens in June .

The content generated on this blog is for information purposes only. This Article gives the views and opinions of the authors and does not reflect the views and opinions of the Impact of Social Science blog (the blog), nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Please review our  comments policy  if you have any concerns on posting a comment below.

Image Credit:  SvetaZi  on Shutterstock .

About the author

Dr. Panagiotis Kavouras is a Physicist, with an MSc in Materials Science and Technology and a PhD in Physics focused on Technology of Materials. During the last several years he has focused his research interests on research on Research Integrity.

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A RESEARCH PROPOSAL COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN UNIVERSITIES

2019, A RESEARCH PROPOSAL COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN UNIVERSITIES

There are several other research studies carried out to assess the impact of computer technologyin the domain of education. References [14–17] Solar et al. [1998] have argued that adoption ofcomputers enhances the quality of learning and improves the quality of education. This isconsistent with the study by Gallego et al. [1999] who argue that, for a successful improvement of the quality of education, a country needs implementation of ICT policies and regulations thatmust be effective and vigorous at all levels. Babaheidari and Svensson [2000] in another studymake a different conclusion that the impact of computers on learning outcomes is not clear. Linet al. [2001] point out that there is no evidence of any strong impact of the application of ICT ineducation. Likewise, Wastiau et al. [2000] indicate that application of ICT in educationachievement has positive effects while Venkatesh et al. [2003] find out that there exists no actualeffects of computers in education since all research is based on the socioeconomic background ofstudents and embedded characteristics of the school. Such mixed results from previous studiestherefore confirm that there is inadequate empirical evidence of computer technology impact on education, and also, there is an absence of well-developed and reliable theoretical studies tosupport the benefits resulting from computer technology implementation

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• Call for proposal under Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI), Last date extended till 15th June, 2024  >>  

Call for proposal under Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI), Last date extended till 15th June, 2024

The Department of Science Technology DST initiated a focused programme 'Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI)' in 2008 to catalyze research in highly interdisciplinary areas of Cognitive Science. The Cognitive Science Research Initiative facilitates a platform to scientific community to work for better solution of challenges related with cognitive disorders and social issues through various psychological tools batteries, early diagnosis better therapies, intervention technologies and rehabilitation programmes. DST has identified specific thrust areas in Cognitive Science which include Foundations of Cognition Language and Cognition Computational Intelligence Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience etc. The CSRI encourages young and senior researchers to submit proposals in upcoming thrust areas of Cognitive Science.

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Minor in Science, Technology, and Medicine

Thursday, May 30, 2024

 The Minor in Science, Technology, and Medicine in Society offers students a unique opportunity to delve into the critical role these fields play in shaping our world. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, You learn to collaborate and communicate effectively, and to reflect on urgent questions about science in society—questions concerning regulation, responsibility, reliability, and sustainability.

This minor emphasizes the premise that science literacy means more than knowing facts–it helps you gain a broader understanding of how science works. You become acquainted with a broad set of issues, including questions of authorship and publication ethics, expertise and the evidential basis for science policy decisions, and responsible communication both within science and beyond. Throughout the program, you will be encouraged to focus on various applications of these skills to your major. Whether you’re passionate about understanding the societal implications of cutting-edge technologies or eager to contribute to meaningful discussions on medical innovation, this minor equips you with the knowledge and tools to truly understand what it means to be a Scientest. Join a community of curious minds and become part of the conversation that shapes the future of science, technology, and medicine in society.

In the coming days, the College will update this exciting new change to 2024-2025 Acedemic Bulletin. Reach out to our Director of Undergraduate Studies, Nico Bertoloni Meli for more information if you're interested. 

• College of Arts & Sciences

• Medical Humanities Minor
• Minor in Science, Technology, and Medicine in Society
• Individualized Major Program
• M.A. Degree
• M.A., Studies in Scientific Research Literacy and Responsible Research
• Combined M.A. and M.L.S. Degree
• Qualifications
• Dissertation
• Ph.D. Double Major
• Ph.D. Minor
• Ph.D. Minor (6 credit)
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Apply for funding 2024.

New CSSP Call for Proposals is now open!

The Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP) has launched eight new science and technology (S&T) challenges to improve public safety and security capabilities in Canada.

Prospective partners from government, academia, and industry are invited to apply to the Call for Proposals. We invite you to discuss the challenges and match with partners on our GC Collab message boards . To request permission to access this platform, please follow the instructions in the user guide . These message boards are optional. To apply for the CSSP Call for Proposals, please visit CanadaBuys .

2024 CSSP Call for Proposals

The public safety and security environment is highly complex, volatile, and rapidly evolving. The intent of the 2024 CSSP Call for Proposals is to leverage the innovative application of science and technology across the spectrum of safety and security.

Solutions submitted for the 2024 CSSP Call for Proposals must address the following challenge areas:

Wildfire intelligence – A common picture for detection and suppression

Building stronger communities – understanding and improving mass care in emergencies, identify and protect – biometrics for defence and security, upholding canada’s sovereignty – border security and domain awareness, navigating the future – fortifying canada’s critical infrastructure with next gen positioning and timing, unmask the threat – advancing technologies for the detection and identification of threat materials, shields up – responding to neglected, emerging, and re-emerging diseases, safeguarding – identifying and mitigating the risks of small modular reactors and radioactive sources.

S&T challenge: Wildfire firefighting ‘common operating picture’

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was unprecedented in terms of its severity compared to the wildfire seasons of the past several years. This increased public concern due to poor air quality and the threat of evacuations of affected communities. The economic impact as well as the effect on the general population (distress, evacuation, smoke) make wildfires one of the worst natural disasters.

The effective execution of wildfire fighting operations (from detection to attack to suppression) is one of the key elements in reducing the impact of severe wildfire seasons, which are expected to continue several years into the future due to the effects of climate change.

Another key element of wildfire fighting operations is the effective use of wildfire information (remote sensing data, propagation modelling forecasts, resource availability, etc) by the incident management team (IMT) commander, or commanders at provincial headquarters (HQ). However, this wildfire information (also called wildfire intelligence) often arrives at the IMT command piecemeal, presented in a variety of different tools or software. This can create confusion and render the wildfire fighting operations sub-optimal.

To this end, the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP) is seeking innovative science and technology (S&T) solutions for:

• developing a “common operating picture” (CoP) for wildfire fighting operations, with emphasis on advancing capabilities that support incident commanders and wildfire fighters; and/or
• development of a “wildfire synthetic environment” (W-SE) for concept development and experimentation and to train IMT commanders. This would be used to enable the execution of wildfire “war games” that closely align to war games for defence in the Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) experimentation warfare centres.

Of interest are project proposals that entail building a system capable of ingesting fire intelligence from all different sources and presenting this information to an IMT (or HQ) commander in a coherent fashion, which would enable more effective and optimal decision-making. Due to the multi-jurisdictional nature of wildfire fighting, and the need to have such a CoP system and W-SE system available to all wildfire agencies in Canada, the developed systems need to be open architecture and have maximum interoperability with existing systems.

To apply, visit the  CanadaBuys  website.

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S&T challenge: Community resilience research

Mass care is evolving as a concept in emergency response and recovery globally and within Canada. Mass care is not just the delivery of humanitarian services. It involves a high degree of collaboration across the private, public, volunteer, and non-profit sectors to resolve the disaster-related unmet needs of affected individuals and communities. This includes the provision of life-sustaining assistance such as shelter, transportation, and human services (including mental health and reunification assistance) to disaster survivors with access and functional needs including seniors, children, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with chronic medical conditions or recurring pharmacological dependency.

A mass care capacity involves engaging the whole community, including under-served and vulnerable populations, giving agency to people while recognizing that there is a proactive component to response and recovery. At the heart of mass care is a need for unified, human-centered support to those affected and/or displaced by disasters, and to those who are more likely to need acute care in the future if enabling supports are nonexistent.

Defence Research and Development Canada’s CSSP is seeking innovative S&T project proposals that:

• identify or develop a better understanding of what is currently being provided across Canada in terms of mass care, and highlight key knowledge, technology or capacity gaps;
• design tools, methodologies and systems that facilitate the sharing of mass care resources and knowledge and enable improved collaboration across communities, regions, provinces and territories; and/or
• identify and define evidence-based approaches, best practices, and scientifically validated guidance for community led mass care delivery and coordination that will contribute to the mass care national dialogue, leading to disaster risk reduction.

S&T challenge: Biometrics for defence and security

Governments are required to authenticate and establish the identity of individuals for a multitude of reasons, from verifying the identity of persons entering the country or applying for official documents such as passports and driver’s licences, to identifying suspects in criminal and national security-related investigations, among other purposes.

Governments at all levels are seeking ways to improve their biometric recognition capabilities, while simultaneously protecting Canadians’ privacy and delivering programs and services that do not systematically discriminate against or disadvantage any demographic group.

This Call for Proposals is seeking innovative S&T solutions to enhance the government’s biometric recognition capabilities, with a particular emphasis on capabilities that support:

• border control/security and immigration;
• law enforcement/policing;
• defence/national security/intelligence operations; and/or
• physical and/or logical access control.

Of particular interest are projects that explicitly address or incorporate work to better understand:

• known or potential vulnerabilities/weaknesses in biometric technologies (e.g., presentation attacks/spoofing, photo-morphing, privacy/data security, demographic-based performance differentials);
• how biometric technologies can be utilized for deepfake/synthetic media detection; or,
• how biometric technologies interact with other elements in the system, including the human element.

S&T challenge: Border security and domain awareness

Canada’s extensive perimeter, including its maritime regions and remote points of entry, presents the Government of Canada with daunting border security and domain awareness challenges. This includes the need to secure the long Canadian land border with the United States, perform surveillance of maritime and Arctic approaches, and ensure the efficient and secure flow of people, goods, and materials at air, land, and sea ports of entry.

This Call for Proposals is seeking innovative S&T solutions to enhance Canada's ability to protect and secure its land and/or maritime border, with a particular emphasis on any technologies or solutions that can address one or more of the following:

• enhancing Canada’s border services and search and rescue (SAR) capabilities in the North/Arctic, including SAR equipment and capabilities with limited personnel;
• surface platform concepts that can be used on ice and water, or semi-autonomous underwater vehicles, to combat activities such as the illegal transport of firearms and drugs or irregular migration carried out by underwater and/or surface vessels within Canada’s contiguous zone and maritime borders;
• studies and/or research into network architecture that increases interoperability between stove-piped enclaves or cloud services used by different departments for command and control (C2), domain awareness, surveillance, or intelligence, as well as remote operations for the types of platforms in (b);
• ensuring the effective screening of cargo and travellers; and
• detection of unregulated chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive (CBRNE) hazards.

S&T challenge: Positioning, navigation and timing

Positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies, largely enabled by global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), underpin most modern infrastructures, operations, and functions. In addition to providing navigation information for airplanes, ships, and now autonomous vehicles, GPS/GNSS also provide critical timing information for communications networks, energy grids and financial exchanges. As London Economics describes, “GNSS is an umbrella term describing an infrastructure that provides PNT information via satellites orbiting in space. This information allows users with a compatible receiver (e.g., a smartphone) to determine their position, velocity and precise universal and local time.”

GPS/GNSS has become an “invisible” and essential utility. Critical infrastructures (CI) have become increasingly reliant on GPS/GNSS-based PNT data, as have a broad range of economic sectors and consumer applications, in Canada and elsewhere. However, many CI owners and operators are unaware of how their equipment performs when faced with a broad range of threats such as interference, jamming, spoofing, meaconing, cyber-attacks, space weather, and GPS/GNSS outages/operation failures. Due to the dynamic nature of PNT-related applications, technologies, and services, CI cannot keep pace with recent developments that have economic, safety, and security implications for Canada. Developments such as GPS/GNSS improvements and service offerings, alternative PNT technologies and services, new applications leveraging small satellites, situational awareness, and standards development could influence how a GNSS disruption impacts Canadian civilian uses now and into the future.

Furthermore, existing research and development (R&D) may not holistically address the Canadian context, such as the jurisdictional/structure or ownership of CI, interdependencies, dependency on open sharing of international data, R&D investments, fiscal climate and unique Canadian PNT requirements for services in the North (e.g. safe and secure Arctic navigation, and the need for increased GNSS radio occultation data to support accurate weather prediction systems in this region where conventional weather observations are sparse).

This Call for Proposals is seeking innovative S&T solutions aimed at increasing awareness of GPS dependencies, tools to assess operational vulnerabilities, and the development of alternative and complementary PNT technologies to build PNT resilience for Canada’s civilian critical infrastructure. Of particular interest are technologies or solutions that can address one or more of the following:

• studies on GNSS dependencies in Canadian CI sectors (e.g. creating PNT profiles for various use cases);
• studies on impacts of GNSS disruptions;
• studies that will increase awareness of GNSS vulnerabilities;
• development and demonstration of technologies that will improve situational awareness in the event of a GNSS disruption.
• development and demonstration of tools to assess or provide situational awareness of the operating environment or user equipment response under threat;
• testing of device performance in unfavourable operating conditions (e.g., interference, spoofing, in the presence of space weather phenomena);
• simulations of a GNSS disruption and its impacts.
• studies on the potential of alternative and complementary PNT technologies;
• technology development (hardware, software) for improved PNT resiliency;
• demonstrations of assured PNT performance in the event of a GNSS disruption.

S&T challenge: Detection of threat materials

The risk posed by chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) events continues to be of significant concern and have the potential to overwhelm response capacities. Whether they result from natural events, accidental release, or hostile uses, the consequences of CBRNE incidents could have implications on national security, public safety, public confidence, the economy, the environment, and international relations. To prepare for such situations, Canada must have robust tools to anticipate, prevent, protect, and respond to CBRNE crisis situations in a timely and effective manner.

In pursuit of response preparedness to continually expanding and evolving CBRNE materials with increasingly sophisticated delivery methods, there must be improvements made to the tools and technologies to detect in the field.

This challenge accepts the following project types:

• Technology demonstration
• Technology pilot / feasibility studies

Innovative S&T solutions are being sought to enable the development of CBRNE knowledge and capabilities to support emergency management preparedness and strengthen whole-of-society resilience against threats, hazards, and crises. Particularly, proposals are sought for S&T projects whose aim is to develop enhanced tools and methods for detection and identification of threat materials in the field, specifically:

• detection of toxins and high consequence pathogens;
• detection of explosive materials (home-made, industrial, and military) and precursors.

S&T challenge: Preparation for neglected, emerging, and re-emerging diseases

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the requirement for Canada to be prepared for disease outbreaks with plans, procedures, risk assessment methods, adaptable testing, generic treatment options and broadly applicable public heath expertise. Maintaining capabilities and expertise between public health events can be a challenge and requires a significant amount of foresight and preparation.

• Studies and analysis

Proposals are sought for S&T projects whose aim is to develop enhanced tools and methods for preparation to respond to neglected, emerging, and re-emerging diseases, specifically:

• studies to identify likely disease candidates;
• early ID and characterization;
• transmission studies for likely pathogens; and/or
• development of animal models.

S&T challenge: Risk reduction for small modular reactors (SMRs) and radiological and nuclear (RN) materials

The use of radioactive materials in research and industry comes with some inherent risks that the materials may be lost, stolen, or intentionally misused to cause harm to the public. Additionally, small modular reactors (SMRs) are increasingly being considered for energy generation, including in remote locations, and these come with additional risks for malicious or negligent use of the fuel required for these reactors.

Proposals are sought for S&T projects whose aim is anticipate, characterize, and offer potential solutions for the risks and perceived risks associated with the use of radioactive sources and small modular reactors, specifically:

• enhanced tracking or security for portable radioactive sources;
• characterization of vulnerabilities for maintaining and operating SMRs in remote locations; and/or
• technological solutions for increasing the safety of security of SMRs and their fuel.

Royal Society International Collaboration Awards –Call for Applications

The Royal Society has opened a call for applications for International Collaboration Awards which will provide funding for newly independent researchers who are building their own group in the UK and South Africa to jointly develop international research collaborations. Applications are also encouraged to include a Least Developed Country. Researchers can apply for funds of up to £225,000 for three years (plus additional funds if a Least Developed Country partner is also included). Projects must be ODA-eligible. Closing date: 25 June 2024

Further details are available on our website at: International Collaboration Awards – International Science Partnerships Fund | Royal Society

Enquires can be sent to [email protected]

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